Hilde Goossens paints to remember. Her work investigates what remains when memory fades: the residue of experiences. Working from photographs taken during travels, she creates paintings that embody the unreliable nature of recollection: reduced, simplified, and transformed by time and distance.
Goossens graduated with great distinction from Sint-Lucas Ghent in 1997. Working from her studio in the Flemish Ardennes, she paints from memory and photographs taken during escapist travels to urban and southern European landscapes. By the time she begins painting, details have already begun to fade. This natural process of forgetting forms her methodology: she deliberately reduces images to their essential elements, stripping away specifics until atmosphere, colour, and feeling remain.
Her process begins with deliberately faded photographs used as underpainting guides. She then builds up layers of acrylic paint, selectively erasing and modifying as she works. What emerges are not representations of places, but residues: visual echoes that retain enough to trigger recognition while acknowledging the gaps and distortions inherent in remembering.
Her work functions as a form of preservation, yet she recognises its paradox: the painting becomes the memory, potentially replacing or distorting the original experience. What she doesn't paint, she finds she remembers less. As time passes and her own memory becomes more unreliable, this confrontation with forgetting has become central to her practice.
Her practice resonates with artists investigating memory and loss: Luc Tuymans' mediated and fading images, Dirk Braeckman's atmospheric absence, Gerhard Richter's blurred questioning of truth. Yet she maintains a distinctly personal vocabulary focused on the psychology of remembering and forgetting.
Her paintings often evoke recognition in viewers: a feeling of elsewhere. In this way, her work proposes that shared memory might be less about accurate recall and more about collectively held feelings and atmospheres.
Goossens has exhibited at Mu.ZEE (Ostend), Textielmuseum (Ghent), and City Museum Sint-Niklaas (SteM). Solo presentations include Zebrastraat (Ghent), De Weverij (Evergem), and Cultural Center De Meent (Alsemberg). Her work is included in the private collection Merode (Ronse).
Born in 1978 in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
Works and lives in Sint-Maria-Oudenhove, Belgium
solo exhibitions
2026, Notes from Crete, CC de Meent, Alsemberg, Belgium
2025, Vacation Memories, Groenhove Torhout, Belgium
2025, lisboa X côte d'azur, Zottegem, Belgium
2025, A sense of place, duo exhibition, BCP Art Belge, Rivoli Brussels, Belgium
2024, OSD, Sint-Maria-Oudenhove, Belgium
2024, Thuis, Kunstkamer Oudenaarde, Belgium
2023, OSD, Sint-Maria-Oudenhove, Belgium
2022, Altijd Onderweg, De Weverij, Evergem, Belgium
2022, OSD, Sint-Maria-Oudenhove, Belgium
2021, Onderweg, Yes Art Gallery, Sint-Idesbald, Belgium
2019, Onderweg, CC de Meent, Alsemberg, Belgium
2019, Onderweg, L'Atelier, Aalst, Belgium
2018, Onderweg, Expo18, Ostend, Belgium
2018, Onderweg, Casa 93, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium
2017, OSD, Sint-Maria-Oudenhove, Belgium
2017, Galerij Huis Huis, Ghent, Belgium
2017, Kunstroute Oosterzele, Pastorie, Balegem, Belgium
2016, Patronen, Artist of the month at Zebrastraat, Ghent, Belgium
2016, Structuren, ID+Art Center, Hamme, Belgium
2015, Af-wachtend, Theater Scala, Ghent, Belgium
2015, Af-wachten, Public Library, Zottegem, Belgium
2008, Lines, Castle of Blauwendale, Waasmunster, Belgium
2008, Lines: the Second Episode, Pastorij, Sombeke, Belgium
2006, 't Latemke, Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium
2006, OSD, Waasmunster, Belgium
2006, Au Bord du Lac, Eke, Belgium
group exhibitions
2025, Small Matters, Green Door Gallery Biennale, Brussels, Belgium
2025, De Kunstwedstrijd, CC Zwaneberg, Heist-op-den-Berg, Belgium
2025, Alles Stroomt, H. Familiekerk, Hamme, Belgium
2025, Van den vos Reynaert, Kasteel Blauwendael, Waasmunster, Belgium
2025, Gallery Kunstig, Ostend, Belgium
2025, Wonderkamer, Hamme-Waasmunster, Belgium
2025, Het merg van de kleur, town hall, Dendermonde, Belgium
2025, NAFT Kunstenfestival, SteM: Stedelijk Museum Sint-Niklaas, Belgium
2025, Intimiteit, Hamme, Belgium
2025, S.O.S., Theobalds Boothuisje, CAS and Studio 221 in Ostend, Belgium
2025, Winterwarm Wunderwall, De Weverij Evergem, Belgium
2024, Augmented Reality, CAS Zottegem, Belgium
2024, Tree Time, Kasteel Blauwendael Waasmunster, Belgium
2024, En Route, Dendermonde, Belgium
2024, Villa Global, Veltem, Belgium
2024, Private Views, De Meesterwoning Hamme, Belgium
2024, Private Views, atelier Katrien Everaert Hamme, Belgium
2024, Private Views, Natuuratelier, Sombeke, Belgium
2024, Promenades, Flooat Gallery, Aalter, Belgium
2024, CAS Oostende, Belgium
2023, Home, The Green Door Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2023, De rol van de vrouw in de kunst, Het Kunstkot, Hamme, Belgium
2023, Crux Interpretum, De Meesterwoning, Hamme, Belgium
2023, Coupee Cahier, Industriemuseum Ghent, Belgium
2023, Licht, lucht en water, ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2023, De intimiteit van papier, ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2022, Circus Humanus, Heemkring, Hamme, Belgium
2021, Lustrum, Overzichtstentoonstelling 2016>2021, Zebrastraat, Ghent, Belgium
2021, De Sacraliteit van het Licht, Kunstforum De Koolputten, Waasmunster, Belgium
2021, Schatten zoeken in Schetsboeken, Kunstroute, Hamme, Belgium
2020, Onderhuids, Kunstforum De Koolputten, Waasmunster, Belgium
2019, Landscap, Square42, Ostend, Belgium
2019, Gelaagdheid, DACA loft, Hamme, Belgium
2019, It's time Square42 show!, Ostend, Belgium
2019, Kunst in de huiskamer, Hamme, Belgium
2018, VLOT, Square42, Ostend, Belgium
2018, Rendez-vous, Gallery Resonans, Ghent, Belgium
2018, COUP/E/E, Brussel Noord, Belgium
2018, Picturale Connecties, ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2018, Kastelenkunstroute, Zottegem, Belgium
2018, Kunstroute Oosterzele, Ijzeren hekken, Landskouter, Belgium
2018, Jardin d'amis XII: Parlando Ma Non Troppo, Hamme, Belgium
2017, Post-Art from the Edge, 't Grijze Huis, Ostend, Belgium
2017, See@Sea, Square42, Ostend, Belgium
2017, Jardin d'amis XI: Omnium Memoria, Hamme, Belgium
2017, Double Face, SQuare42, Ostend, Belgium
2017, Crux Interpretum, ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2017, Sporen, het landschap als herinnering, Hamme, Belgium
2017, Ich hab' noch einen Koffer in ..., ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2016, Art-in-a-box, ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2016, De mythe van de leegte, De Ouverture, Cadzand-Bad, The Netherlands
2016, See@Sea, Square42, Ostend, Belgium
2016, Jardin d'amis, ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2016, Shizuoka Art Palet, Prefectual Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan
2016, Stoer, Cabinart 2016, Sint-Idesbald, Belgium
2016, Design - Art - Object, /NTRO, Ghent, Belgium
2016, Tussen leegte en licht, ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2015, Versier me, ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2015, Jardin D'amis: Petit déjeuner sur l'herbe, ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2015, Black&White, ID Collectief, Hamme, Belgium
2015, Eindeloosheid, Cabin Art 2015, Sint-Idesbald, Belgium
2015, Ekspose.me, Affordable Art Fair, Brussels, Belgium
2006, Een hoofd om u tegen te zeggen, Kasteel Blauwendael, Waasmunster, Belgium
2006, Les Trois, PMMK, Ostend, Belgium
collections
2022, MErode, Ronse, Belgium
publications
2025, Crete June 2025, monograph, November
2025, Alles stroomt, exhibition catalog, November
2025, Achter de cover, Kunstletters #031 magazine, October
2025, Van den vos Reynaert, exhibition catalog, September
2025, Het merg van de kleur, exhibition catalog, June
2025, lisboa X côte d'azur, exhibition catalog, May
2025, Intimiteit, exhibition catalog, April
2025, S.O.S., exhibition catalog, April
2025, Côte d’Azur August 2024, monograph, March
2024, The Art Couch Review 2024, December
2024, Lisboa June 2024, monograph, November
2024, Tree Time, exhibition catalog, September
2024, OSD, exhibition catalog, May
2024, Thuis: op reis in het werk van Hilde Goossens, The Art Couch, April
2024, Thuis, exhibition catalog, April
2024, Kufstein Tirol, Fall 2023, monograph, April
2024, De Kleurencombinatie, Kunstletters #24 magazine, January
2023, Valencia, Summer 2023, monograph, December
2023, Het Kruis als symbool, exhibition catalog, November
2023, Licht, lucht en water, exhibition catalog, September
2023, De intimiteit van papier, exhibition catalog, April
2023, Spring-Winter 2022-2023, monograph, April
2022, Summer 2022, monograph, December
2022, Circus Humanus, exhibition catalog, September
2022, Sit Down, monograph, May
2021, Virtual Visit, monograph, December
2021, Lustrum, Zebrastraat Artists of the month, exhibition catalog, November
2021, De Intimiteit van het schetsboek, Art Cahier #26 magazine, October
2021, Ateliers in beeld: Hilde Goossens, Kunstletters #14 magazine p 6-7, July
2021, De keuze van Penelope Deltour, Kunstletters #12 magazine, January
2020, Coronaproof, Art Cahier #25 magazine, November
2020, Through Walls, YOC exhibition catalog, January
2018, Kastelenkunstroute en Collateral Event Zottegem, program catalog, June
2018, Uit de webgalerie, Kunstletters #1 magazine, April
2018, Parlando ma non troppo, exhibition catalog Jardin d'amis XII, August
2017, Sporen ... het landschap als herinnering, exhibition catalog, May
2016, Laat de verf maar druipen, Kunsttijdschrift Vlaanderen #361 p56-57, November
2016, De Dans van de Zwaan, exhibition catalog Jardin d'amis X, August
2016, Structuren - Hilde Goossens, exhibition catalog, April
competitions | awards | selections
2025, Certificate of Artistic Achievement, Luxembourg Art Prize, Luxembourg
2025, Small Matters, Green Door Gallery Biennale, Brussels, Belgium
2025, De Kunstwedstrijd, CC Zwaneberg, Heist-op-den-Berg, Belgium
2023, Home, Green Door Gallery Biennale, Brussels, Belgium
2021, De keuze van Penelope Deltour uit de webgalerie van Beeld/Kunstwerkt
2020, Beeld-Estafette van Kunstwerkt
2019, Yoc.be, an initiative by Gallery Dessers, Hasselt, Belgium
2018, Sassafras De Bruyn kiest uit de webgalerie van Kunstwerkt
2018, Lady's into art, De Wasserij, Lokeren, Belgium
2016, Shizuoka Art Palet, Japan
2016, Hommage, top 105, Belgium
2016, Cabin Art, Koksijde, Belgium
2015, Selection Artist of the month - Zebrastraat, Gent, Belgium
2015, Cabin Art, Koksijde, Belgium
2006, Selection PMMK (an organisation of Amuseevous), Oostende, Belgium
2006, Selection Arnoevoo, Bredene, Belgium
education
2023 - 2026, Art History, SABK, Zottegem, Belgium
1994 - 1997, Visual Arts, Sint-Lucas Institute, with Great Distinction, Ghent, Belgium